


Ease Your Aching Head

by onlysmallwings



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen, Headaches & Migraines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-04
Updated: 2012-01-04
Packaged: 2017-10-28 22:16:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/312745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlysmallwings/pseuds/onlysmallwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Quinn gets a migraine. Brittany and Santana take care of her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ease Your Aching Head

Quinn can feel it coming on. She leaves Glee without a word, walking swiftly to her locker to dump as much as possible before heading to her car. Santana and Brittany are waiting for her by the time she gets there.  
“Just give me your keys and take your damn pill,” Santana snaps, holding out her hand expectantly.  
Quinn drops her keys into Santana’s hand and digs through her purse for her (concealed) pill bottle. She hates taking the damn things, they knock her out way too fast, but this already feels bad.  
“How does she always know?” Quinn asks quietly, leaning her head back and covering her eyes with both hands.  
Santana laughs dryly. “She’s Brittany.”  
“Is she following in your car?”  
“Hers,” Santana says. “She drove this morning. Hold on, your damn driveway.”  
Thankful for the warning, Quinn braces as the car jolts over the crack in her driveway. It’s too expensive for her mom to fix and her dad won’t pay for anything not specified in the divorce decree, the ass.

Quinn walks slowly around her car towards the house. Brittany slips an arm around Quinn’s waist, Santana having gone ahead to unlock the door for them.  
“Your room or the couch?” Brittany asks.  
“Bed,” Quinn whispers. The drugs, taken on a fairly empty stomach, are starting to kick in, dragging her out of it.

She tries to change clothes herself, but she sways so badly that Brittany and Santana end up propping her up between them, batting her hands out of the way and getting her into pajama pants and an old t shirt.  
She’s aware of the sounds of someone putting a new bag in the trashcan and placing it by her bed before they both climb in with her.  
“You puke on me and I will kick you.” It’s the standard threat from Santana whenever Quinn has a migraine and it’s still worth a little chuckle.  
“She won’t,” Brittany whispers, tucking Quinn’s hair behind her ear. “Sleep.”

~  
Quinn’s migraines aren’t common knowledge at school, mostly because she thinks they’re a sign of weakness and she hates looking weak in front of people. The exclusion of Santana and Brittany in that aversion is mostly due to the fact that when Brittany found Quinn shaking and desperately holding on to the walls of a restroom stall in the middle of class freshman year, Brittany carried her to the nurse and waited with Quinn until her mom showed up to take her home.

Santana watches Brittany stroke her fingers through Quinn’s hair, each pass gentle and sure. The way Brittany dotes on Quinn, cuddling her when she shakes, giving her something to focus on when the world starts spinning out of control, fills Santana’s heart to bursting.

They lay on the bed with Quinn between them until she finally relaxes and turns over in her sleep. Brittany creeps out first and Santana follows, making sure to leave the door cracked; Quinn isn’t likely to wake up for a few hours, but Santana wants to be sure they’ll hear her if she needs them.

Santana gets their bookbags from the cars and gets to work on her homework at the kitchen table. Brittany plays with her phone, and then her iPod, before she sits down across from Santana and scowls at her bookbag.  
“Do I have to?” she whines.  
“Only if you want to be eligible for glee competitions.” Santana doesn’t look up from the paper she’s correcting. They have the same conversation every time they do their homework together. Santana actually likes doing well in school but Brittany has to have a reason to sit still and try to focus.

Quinn’s mom gets home well after dark has fallen. Brittany finally managed to convince Santana to watch tv with her as long as they keep it quiet enough they can still listen for Quinn.  
“Oh!” Judy is always startled to find Santana and Brittany at her house, even when Santana knows she saw the cars in the driveway. It’s like she still can’t imagine why anyone would want to be Quinn’s friend.  
“Quinn’s still asleep,” Brittany says. “She got a migraine during glee.”  
Santana flashes a smile at Judy and leaves to check on Quinn. Dealing with idiots without insulting them is usually better left to Brittany.

~  
There’s a thump from upstairs and Brittany bolts away from Judy as Santana calls for her.  
She bursts into Quinn’s room to find Santana holding Quinn on the floor. “She was sweaty and shaking when I came up so I tried to wake her then she tried to get up and we fell,” Santana explains, keeping her voice low.  
Quinn’s eyes are squeezed shut and she’s gripping Santana’s arms tightly, but her voice is clear, if softer than normal. “I have to pee.”  
Brittany stifles a laugh and reaches down to help Quinn and Santana lever themselves up. Quinn sways badly once she’s vertical and stumbles over her own feet on the way to the bathroom.  
“Me or Santana?” Brittany asks at the doorway.  
“I can -” Quinn tries before Santana cuts her off.  
“You’ll fall and crack your head open. Let Britt help you pee and we’ll get you downstairs.” Santana slips away from Quinn’s side and starts straightening the bed.

Brittany keeps repeating that it’s fine while she steadies Quinn on the toilet. “This isn’t the first time I’ve had to hold someone on the toilet.”  
“I’m not sure helping your little sister counts,” Quinn murmurs, blushing furiously.  
“Drunk Santana does,” Brittany chuckles. “Funny story, if you can listen to it.”  
Quinn nods faintly, attempting to walk a fairly straight line.

They make it down the stairs with no further spills and Santana gestures for Brittany to lay Quinn down in her lap. Brittany sits down on the opposite end of the couch pulls Quinn’s feet into her lap. She knows they’re ignoring Judy, but it seems to go both ways. Judy ignores the way Quinn shivers and stumbles and the girls ignore Judy altogether.

Cheerios indoctrination being what it is, both Brittany and Santana have overnight bags in the car. Brittany calls her mom to tell her that she’s staying at Quinn’s for the night; Santana doesn’t bother. Brittany watches Quinn doze off with her head in Santana’s lap; for a migraine afternoon, it really wasn’t that bad. Some days, Brittany wishes Santana and Quinn could be so demonstrative all the time. Most of the time, though, she understands why affection is so hard for them and as long as they don’t try to close themselves off from her, she’s okay.


End file.
